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The relief following the first round of voting in the French presidential election propelled major US equities indices higher and pushed the Nasdaq Composite to a fresh record closing high on Monday, even as investors eye a busy week for corporate results.

The financials sector gained more than 2 per cent and industrials were up 1.3 per cent, both of which propelled the Dow Jones and S&P 500 higher for the day. The Dow ended the day up 1.05 per cent to 20,763, while the S&P 500 gained 1.08 per cent on the day to end at 2,374.

The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, picked up 1.24 per cent to hit a fresh closing high of 5,983.82, ahead of a busy week of corporate earnings from some of tech’s biggest names.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note picked up 2.1 basis points on the day to end at 2.27 per cent.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of its peers, was nearly level with its open at 99.05, while the euro picked up 1.3 per cent against the dollar to $1.087, as markets wrap their head around the match-up between French political newcomer Emmanuel Macron and the far right’s Marine Le Pen next month.